Thill-coupling.



No. 889,190. PATENTBD JUNEQ,` 1908..

A N. M. BELL. THILL GOUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED APE. 5.1907.

gum hummm rHE Nmzms PETERS co9, wAsnINaTuN, D c.

im? l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

NELSON MARTIN BELL, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

THrLL-coUPLInG.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON MARTIN BELL, a citizen of the United States,residing in Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful specification, and the essentialfeatures ofY which will be more particularly set forth in the claimsappended hereto.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the drawing accompanying thisspecification in which Figure 1 is a side view of a thill couplingembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section takenon line 2.-2, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 is a plan view of aportion of the coupling with a certain clip portion cut away on line 44, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section taken on line 5'-5, Fig. 1and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a clip.

In these views, A, represents the axle, and B, one of the thills of anordinary buggy or wagon. The main body of the coupling is in the form ofa yoke 10, which embraces the axle and contains two screw threadedintegral bolts 11-11. A cross bar 12, straddles the axle and containstwo holes through which extend the screw-threaded bolts 11. Nuts 13 areprovided upon said bolts to clamp the coupling upon the axle. Twoperforated knuckles 14 project out from the front face of the yoke 10,and the thill B contains a perforated knuckle b which lies between theknuckles 14, and is pivotally connected thereto by a pin 15.

A spring clip 2O is secured to the coupling and furnishes means forretaining the pin 15 in place in the knuckles 14, b. Said clip is alsoarranged to revent rattling of the parts and t0 temporari y support thethill after the pin' has been removed from the knuckles. As shown in thedrawings, said clip contains Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 5, 1907.

down to form a flange 26 Patented June 2, 1908.

Serial No. 366,478.

a flat portion 21, that is perforated to receive the bolts 11, of theyoke 10 and said clip is secured in place by means of the nuts 13, thatsecure the coupling upon the axle. The forward end of the kfiat portionis bent upward at 22, and outward at 23 to present a supporting ledge,that is arranged to lie just be ow the knuckles 14, l), and said ledgeis adapted to sup ort the thill when the pin is withdrawn to axle. Therear end of the fiat portionA is bent upward as at 24, and curvedforward over the axle, to form an arch 25, the forward end of the archterminating in a horizontal, flat portion 26. The flat portion 26,extends slightly beyond the sides of the knuckles 14, and the ends ofsaid flat portion, are bent down to form protecting ears 27 that arearranged to lie quite close to the knuckles 14, and prevent theaccidental dislodgment of the pin 15. A block 30, of some elasticsubstance, such as rubber, is secured to the under side of the flatportion 26, and bears upon the knuckles 14, b, to prevent any rattlingof the parts. The arch 25is given such a bend as will put pressure uponthe knuckles 14, l), and

the interposition of the elastic block effectually prevents any rattlein the parts. A finger piece 28, is secured upon the flat portion 26, bymeans of a rivet 29, which rivet `also passes through the elastic block30, and

connects the same to the flat portion 26. The front edge of the flatportion 26, is bent which together with the ears 27, entirely inclosethe elastic block 30. It may be found desirable in some cases to placesaid block loosely between the portion 26 and the knuckles instead ofriveting or otherwise securing it to said fiat portion. In that case itis effectually kept in its place between the clip and knuckle.

When it is desired to remove the thills, the arched end of the clip 20,is raised, as'shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, to bring the ears 27out of alinement with the perforations in the knuckles 14, b, whereuponthe pin 15 may be pushed out of its seat in said knuckle. As soon as thethill is freed from the pin 15, the knuckle l) of the thill falls uponthe supporting ledge 23, and is temporarily supported thereby, until theother thill has been disconnected from its coupling. I/Vithout thisledge the thill must either be supported bv hand or by some improvisedsupport, or

it will sag down,`thereby putting unnecessary strain upon the thills.The construction of thills 1s well known and requires no especialdescription, suffice it to say that they consist in general of twoshafts that are connected near their points of sup ort by a cross bar.The clip being forme of sheet metal and in one piece, provides -a sim leand cheap expedient for the urposes or which it is intended. The thillis free to swing in the knuckles 14 of the coupling, as no pressure isput upon it, which would be the case were a bolt and nut connection usedto secure the two together. Furthermore it facilitates the attachment ofthe thill to the axle or its removal therefrom.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: Y

1. In a thill coupling, the combination of a thill yoke having suitableknuckles, a thill, 2.0l

a pin ivotally connecting the thill with the knuck es, a one piecespring clip comprising an upwardly arched portion, protecting earsextending laterally from said arched portion,

arranged to hold the pin in place in the knuckles and thill and a ledgearranged below the knuckles and adapted to temporarily support thethill. v

2. In a thill coupling, the combination of a thill yoke, having suitableknuckles, a thill, a pin ivotally connecting the thill with theknuckles, a spring clip made of a single piece of sheet metal andcomprising a ilat perforated portion arranged to be secured to the yoke,an arch portion extending over the yoke terminating in a horizontalportion, ears on said horizontal portion embracing the knuckles and atemporary thill supporting ledge upon the forward end of the flatperforated portion.

In witness whereof I have executed the above application this 2nd day ofApril NELSON MARTIN BELL. Witnesses:

HERMAN FELSENHED, GEO. W. STEFFAN.

